Rediscovery
by Brumidius
Summary: As an unassuming galaxy confronts its absent gods, its denizens are thrust into a conflict as old as life itself. This story follows a family and many others, not the heroes and champions of the galaxy, but the average people. They all have their own problems, desires, and needs, and in the unmatched trial that is war they will discover more than they ever hoped for.
1. Unfamiliar Family

**Rediscovery**

**Chapter 1: Unfamiliar Family**

His first memories were of the Citadel, its glimmering, silver arms grasping for infinity across a cloud of pale magenta. A million lights, from apartment windows to a dreadnought's drive core, refracted across the purple expanse, while starlight from Widow sheathed the impossibly lone and large station in a vivid haze.

This scene had replayed countless times in his life, from the beginning of his memory to only a few days ago. Life as the son of a freight company owner gave him plenty of time in space, and the galaxy had an inexhaustible supply of wonders.

For years the sight of the Citadel had been much the same each time, but it never failed to impress. Abruptly, it had changed a few years ago, in 2183, when the geth had attacked. He wasn't there for the battle, and for that he was glad. The devastation was immense, clear even from behind the strict no-flight cordon established following the attack. For a few days no ships had been allowed near the Citadel, apart from those called in to clear out the remaining geth and later a small army of military and civic engineers. Most ships stuck behind the cordon simply left for other systems, but the MSV Longhaul, the name, fitting if uninspired, of a vessel in his father's small fleet, happened to be shipping a wide variety of luxury foodstuffs. Instead of joining the constant stream of departing ships, his father, the captain on this particular run, wrote off some of the stock, preselected by the clients, as "unsuitable for consumption" and in doing so provided his crew with several meals well above the standard for spacers' fare. Besides, he had said he wanted to remain near the Citadel, should there be need, however unlikely it was, of a freighter with food and room to spare.

After the attack, it was a slow but steady process of repair. Large swathes of wards were devastated, particularly those bombarded by debris after the immense and supposedly geth ship was destroyed by the Alliance fleets. Gradually the Citadel regained its characteristic lustre, though the damage was so widespread and diverse that it would take several years for full repairs. The official line claimed five years, but opinion on that depended on the speaker's take of the Council, or rather its new human representative. Regardless, progress was continuing three years on. That was clear to him now, as he idly gazed around the Presidium from one of the many commons areas interspersed between embassies and corporate offices. Craning his neck, he looked up at the two slopes of the Presidium that faded into the projected blue sky. Ask someone living under a rock if anything had happened at the Citadel, and the last thing they'd say would be a space battle. As he was looking up, a metallic-red skycar descended from the ever-present stream of traffic and approached the landing pad on the terrace below him. That was his ride, and he set off down the stairs as the car came to a gentle halt on the scuffed surface. Whatever she had been before, it undeniably involved a knack for piloting.

In the driver's seat was an asari, as blue as the stereotype, with a few pale facial colourings unique to her species. She lounged in the seat with the arrogant grace that only an asari could affect. It was all a front, of course, but she was still rediscovering herself and everything around her.

"It's not often Kal takes this day off," said Enyanna as Jason stepped into the skycar. "Glad you could make it, Jay."

"Did you ever doubt me, Eny?" he responded.

"No," she said, "but I would if you were the one driving." They laughed as the skycar ascended smoothly and set off for Kithoi Ward.

It occurred to him they were an odd group, the three of them. With the two of them, anyone would just see a human and an asari, a not uncommon sight in the more cosmopolitan regions of the galaxy. But the three altogether were a family, a father with a related son and an unrelated daughter. How the two had become three was a product purely of luck. Eighteen years ago Kal had not known of her whatsoever, and Jason was too young to have known much at all. His father, then only a First Officer in the freight company, was on the usual freighter journey, and had found her on the edge of a star system. The chance encounter arose from the system's outer asteroid belt, which shifted constantly and so tended to disrupt approach paths to the relay. They had diverted and on that path they found her. She was the only person in a husk of a ship that had barely enough life support to justify the name. All they had to identify her was the armour she wore; a soldier, then, or mercenary. The signs of a battle lost, or narrowly won, were scorched and gashed across the ship, so mangled that its make was uncertain. The freighter crew brought her on board, only to find that she knew no more than they. When she regained consciousness, it was clear she had severe amnesia.

The years had then passed steadily, and she had decided early on to stay with Kal and the spacer's lifestyle, to which she attuned at a surprisingly quick pace. She grew restless at times, but quickly cooled down. Her sense of trust, for a time muddled with the rest of her lost self, returned, and she remained, not knowing where else she could go. Kal grew to like her as a person, and so at first she was like a caretaker, a mother of sorts, to Jason, watching over him when Kal served on shipping runs to the more dangerous areas of the Attican Traverse, and then like a sister as he grew into an adult. They all had learned a lot in that period of time, most of all Enyanna, whose memory returned slowly in tantalising fragments, single threads that alluded to a larger tapestry, but by themselves offered little.

But she was family now, and as any family does, she and Jay were going to celebrate their father's birthday with a nice dinner.


	2. A Future Crumbles as the Past Emerges

**Chapter 2: A Future Crumbles as the Past Emerges**

Jason left TransFrontiers' office in the outer Presidium at the usual time. In a few hours the Presidium's brief night-cycle would shroud the hues of silver, green, and blue with dim twilight. A few employees were still in the office, reviewing contracts and the like. Jason had been looking over manifests for potential contracts. While most were honest jobs, there was the sort of people looking to move illicit goods such as heavy weapons, drugs, or slaves, under the guise of innocent and completely legal shipments. It was usually enough to cross-reference point of origin, destination, and affiliated parties, but some were just lacking something. Those contracts he handed off to his father, who knew a few people in C-Sec who could investigate further if they thought it worthwhile.

Kal was still at his desk when Jay set out, mentally juggling a number of contracts, trying to figure out the most efficient use of their ships. Such careful handling put TransFrontiers in the well-established and reliable group of freighter companies. After providing his own proposals, he left Kal nodding in thanks and left for a relaxing evening. Sometimes that involved going to one of the Citadel's many recreational ranges and letting off rounds and steam with a few friends. Tonight was different, and he was meeting those friends in a bar over in Zakera Ward. It wasn't something that happened too often since night and day on the rest of Citadel were one and the same. Occasionally their work schedules coincided like this, and they tried to make the most of those times.

He got a cab to Zakera Ward and was mulling over a few freight manifests as he arrived. He passed a wall of news panels on his way to the bar, and caught a few words concerning batarian refugees, and lots of them. _Maybe some civil war in the grand, infallible Hegemony_, thought Jason. _Maybe another relay's about to explode_.

He found three of his friends sitting at a table inside the bar, called Dark Star Lounge. They knew what he liked and a Terra Novan ale was on the table, chilled appreciably.

"Jay!" called out Rob, himself from Terra Nova. "'Bout time you got here. Let's get this started," he continued, with the warm friendliness of someone who's had a few. The two others, Julia, from the homeworld itself, and Naoki, from Watson, greeted him as well, though somewhat more reservedly.

"Sounds like you started a while ago," said Jason good-naturedly.

"You hearing what I've heard?" asked Rob, opening another beer. "Crazy stuff recently and it's picking up again. Just the reason for a few drinks. May hit that ryncol they serve here later."

"Good luck with that," said Naoki as Julia laughed.

"What's going on?" asked Jason. Downing a mouthful of beer, his mind went back to the news clip he heard briefly. Julia stepped into the conversation.

"Depends what corners of the extranet you go to most often," with a glance at Rob.

"Hey, it's legit," replied Rob. "Mostly. That Plim guy-"

"Just a conspiracy theorist, looking to cash in on the latest rumour," said Julia. "Anyway, remember that business with Shepard that started a few years ago?"

"You know everyone does," responded Jay.

Julia continued. "Right. The Alliance is quiet as usual, but a lot of people are starting to believe what Shepard said about Reapers." Judging from her tone, Jason figured that Julia was close to being among them.

"Bring in what happened in batarian space earlier this year and honestly there's no question," asserted Naoki. "You don't just blow up a relay for the hell of it. Not even Shepard could get away with that so lightly. What do you think, Jay?" he asked. "You've seen a lot of the galaxy." Jason thought for a moment before answering.

"It doesn't seem right that something destroys all life every fifty thousand years." Some nods around the table. "But if you think about it, how many planets there are, how many we've been able to set up colonies on, why aren't there more species around? You know what I mean, those that could reach a relay." Rob had been silent during this exchange, in a sort of bleary reverie. He spoke now, subdued by this thoughts.

"Sure, I can see that. But if they're real? The Reapers? We wake up one day to apocalypse, and soon enough whoever comes next will be asking what we're asking." He shook his head, sighing, then drank deeply.

"At least we've got Shepard on our side," said Julia.

"Just one person, even with all that's happened. Need more than that to... to save the galaxy, I guess," countered Naoki. He continued. "If what's behind those batarian refugees is the Reapers, then... I don't know. Is this it?" They were all silent for a moment. Then Rob broke in.

"Shit, this got gloomy fast." They chuckled lightly and sipped at their drinks. Jason changed the subject.

"Eny's off to Thessia again. Left a few days ago. Her last trip there went well. She thinks that's where she's from."

"That's good," said Julia. "Really good." Eny had gone out with them a few times, and was easy-going and sociable, but she often seemed distracted, focusing on some small detail, like a word, an object, or a concept. Then there was the time she went with them to the gun range.

"Found out if she's a soldier yet?" asked Naoki with a grin, thinking of the same day.

"Full-on huntress, more like," added Rob.

"Yeah. Never seen anything like that," said Julia. "The moment her hand touched that gun, she snapped it right into position."

"Yeah," said Naoki. "Then maybe a dozen quick shots, no hesitation at all, and every target all down the range was down. That may have been an old, beat-up Avenger she had, but that didn't matter at all." They shared smiles at that day's memory.

"You know, Rob," said Jason. "You may be right."

"Well, yeah, but what about?"

"The huntress thing. That's what Eny's going to find out. All asari are biotics, right? That means most of them have amps, and if Eny was a huntress or just a soldier, she'd have a pretty good one."

"I wish I had biotics," interrupted Rob with a certain fascination. "You think things, and they happen, just like that." Naoki laughed briefly.

"Sure," he said," so long as you don't mind discrimination and migraines, at best." Rob shrugged, still set on the idea, and Julia prompted Jason to continue.

"Right. We did some research after the range incident. Before that, it was obvious she had skill with biotics. Mostly small things, like moving an object, stuff like that. Then the thing with the mugger and the shiv. You guys know how that turned out."

"She kicked his ass," enthused Rob. "Didn't even have to touch him. Damn, I wish I'd seen it."

"Yeah," said Jason. "Well, considering the biotics and the gun skills, it was obvious to us to look further. The amp she had was special work, from a place on Thessia called Serrice. Apparently they make the best amps out there, and they don't just let anyone buy them."

"I've heard of Serrice," said Julia. "Expensive stuff. So you think she had connections back then?" she asked.

"She must have," answered Jason. "So that's where she's starting this time. Serrice. Hopefully she'll find some more answers."

"I hope so," said Rob. "Can't be easy waking up one day and not even knowing your own name."

"About that," interjected Naoki. "Names, I mean. How'd she choose Enyanna?"

Jason shrugged. "All I know is it's probably not her old name. She found it while reading something, a real book she keeps pretty close. There's a story behind it, in their mythology, religion, whatever. I couldn't find anything on the extranet about it, but Eny said she'd tell us someday."

"All in good time," said Rob. "How about a toast? To us, whatever's about to happen, and to Eny getting some answers!" They all drank to that, got something harder than beer, and enjoyed the rest of their night.


End file.
